Day 23 – Alaskan Halibut, Oh Yeah!

What do you do when someone catches a 50lb. plus halibut? Eat halibut, of course.

Start with a putting together a nice halibut ceviche as soon as they bring you the cleaned meat. My deal is they catch it, they clean it and I cook it. There is nothing like the smell of ocean lingering on the fish when it comes to you and ceviche is a respectful way to begin to enjoy the bounty of fresh caught fish.

Halibut Ceviche

Keep in mind, I am cooking for twenty people. I prepared about five pounds of halibut for this dish, so if you are not throwing a party, cut this down in half and half again, as needed.

Juice from 2 lemons and 2 limes
Equal amount of rice vinegar as the citrus yield, plus 2 T of cider vinegar
1 bunch of scallions, sliced thin
3 jalapeno peppers, fine chop
4 Roma tomatoes, small chop
2 T Italian parsley, fine chop for all herbs
1 T fresh oregano
1 T fresh basil
2 T of blackening seasoning
A few heavy pinches of kosher salt
5 lbs. of fresh halibut, cut into small pieces

Mix all of the ingredients together and at the end, fold in the halibut. Chill for at least 2 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips. Ceviche will hold for 5-7 days.

The next day I moved onto halibut as the entree. For dinner tonight, I cooked up pan-seared, cornmeal crusted halibut fillets topped with a fresh peach and yogurt salsa. The dish was served with salad, with a lemon goddess dressing, basmati rice and a saute of mixed vegetables. We had a happy boat.

Cornmeal Crusted Halibut with Peach and Yogurt Salsa

For the salsa, I mixed all ingredients and then folded in two, individual sized containers of Chobani peach, greek yogurt. The Greek style yogurt works best for this type of dish. You could easily change the fruit in the salsa and the yogurt flavor and be successful. Serves 20 people

8 fresh peaches, small dice
1 large red pepper, small dice
2 bunches of scallions, slice thin
2-3 jalapeno peppers, fine chop
1 T minced garlic
3 T chopped parsley
1 T chopped basil
2 T rice vinegar
A few heavy pinches of kosher salt and white pepper
2 small containers of Chobani peach yogurt

Mix well and let stand for 1 hour.

For the halibut, I made a cornmeal mix of 2 cups of yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup of blackening seasoning, 1/2 cup of Wondra or regular flour and 1 T of kosher salt. Just rinse the halibut and shake the excess water off and then dip right into the cornmeal mix, top-side only. Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan, enough to give the pan a heavy coat – 1/4 inch max. On medium-high heat, sear the cornmeal side only for 3-4 minutes until it just starts to brown. Have an oven set on 400-425 degrees. Flip the halibut onto a pan-coated baking sheet and place in oven for addition 6-9 minutes, depending on desired temperature. I love halibut cooked to a medium temp. Serve immediately with salsa topping.

Tagged as: Alaska, ceviche, Chobani yogurt, Cooking at Sea, cornmeal crusted halibut, halibut, peach yogurt salsa